Chapter 68 - The Origins of Xing Jiuan’s Name
Chapter 68: The Origins of Xing Jiuan’s Name
Back then, the ten-year-old Lu Zhichen was brought to the mountains by his grandfather. It was near Xing Jiuan’s sect.
Xing Jiuan’s master seemed to know Lu Zhichen’s grandfather. Because the two children got closer, their relationship became much better.
Little Xing Jiuan had an appearance complex. At that time, she was still Xing Se. She played with her senior brothers and sisters every day and even trained with her master. She had a dream of becoming a martial arts master.
Lu Zhichen looked better than all the senior brothers and sisters. Therefore, Little Xing Se was mesmerized.
She was only five years old, and she had a childish voice. She would call him “brother” all day. Lu Zhichen liked her very much too and would bring her out to play every day.
At that time, Lu Zhichen was not yet Lu Zhichen.
He had been in poor health since he was young. It was because his life was too good that he could not suppress it. A master had been asked to give him a nickname.
The Master used the word Nan[1], and because he was ranked ninth in the family, he was called Lu Jiunan.
One day, Lu Jiunan suddenly said that the name Xing Se sounded bitter and gave her another name.
Jiuan.
He wanted to wish her well for a long time.
Little Xing Se already knew a lot of words. She wrote Lu Jiunan and Xing Jiuan.
Then she turned “Jiu” to the same “Jiu” in Lu Jiunan[2].
In the end, she decided on a name—Xing Jiuan.
Lu Zhichen did not intend to tell Xing Jiuan.
He wanted to wait for Xing Jiuan to recall it herself.
He skipped these and told Xing Jiuan something else.
The dishes were served. As Xing Jiuan ate, she listened to Lu Zhichen’s occasional words.
“But I still don’t understand,” Xing Jiuan suddenly said.
“Even if we really knew each other, it was a long time ago. We probably haven’t seen each other for a long time. How did you recognize me?”
Lu Zhichen was a cautious and serious person. Naturally, he would not come up with a random reason. He’d said that he had gone there because he had known beforehand that Xing Jiuan would appear at that racing competition.
Previously, he had thought that based on the little girl’s looks when she was young, she would probably become the prettiest girl.
Then, when he saw Xing Jiuan, a voice in his mind told him that this was Xing Jiuan.
The delicate and cool girl was the little girl he was looking for.
Their getting engaged back then was just children playing around. He had only treated the red string as a gift from his younger sister. Later on, he had also forgotten that Xing Jiuan was his fiancée.
When the Old Master said that she wanted to end the engagement, he recalled Xing Jiuan. For some reason, he did not want to end it.
He wanted this to become a reality.
In the end, they still did not make things clear between them. Xing Jiuan was preparing to go back when Lu Zhichen said that he would send her back.
Without letting anyone follow them, Lu Zhichen drove Xing Jiuan to her place.
“Jiuan, I’m returning to the capital tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll see you again then.”
Xing Jiuan only glanced at him before getting out of the car.
Lu Zhichen watched her go in before leaving.
Xing Jiuan felt a little annoyed.
She touched the jade in her hand. Lu Zhichen had given it to her.
An inexplicable fiancé, an inexplicable love token, an inexplicable Lu Zhichen…
She was utterly confused.
As she entered, she realized that everyone was in the living room.
“Little Senior Sister, do you want to eat?”
Su Yize had bought some snacks after dinner and called out to Xing Jiuan when she came in.
Xing Jiuan waved her hand and walked over.
“Senior Brother, I made a mistake on my mission today.” She blamed herself.
She was sure she could have protected those two, but that had been a real trial they were leading. Not only had she not taught them anything, but she had also made a huge mistake.
[1] “Nan,” in this specific context, means “difficult.”
[2] The “Jiu” in Xing Jiuan’s original name meant “long.” She then changed it to the same “Jiu” in Lu Jiunan, which meant “nine.”